Pumpkin Panang Curry Pot Pie

Pumpkin Panang Curry Pot Pie

I love flaky buttery breads, like the top of a pot pie.  Pot pies are really the quintessential comfort food.  Its warm and creamy paired perfectly with the crust, mmmmm….and it’s so hearty!  But oftentimes I find the white cream sauce typically used in pot pies to be too rich and lacking in kick, the kinda punch and kick you get from spice.  So I came up with a curry pot pie that has more than enough flavorful sweat inducing spices along with all the sweet, savory, and sour notes that hit every part of my palette, while also having the creamy and crusty textural qualities of a pot pie.

Cook Time: 45 Minutes            Yields: 4 – 6 Servings

Ingredients:

o      Squash or Pumpkin, Chopped into bite size pieces

o      2 Tablespoons Panang Curry Paste*

o      1 Medium Can (about 14oz) Coconut Milk*

o      2 Shallots or 1 Brown Onion, Chopped

o      4 Sweet Peppers or 1 Red & 1 Green Bell Peppers, Chopped

o      A Handful of Mushrooms (Button or Baby Bella), Quartered - Optional

o      2 Stalks Green Onions, Chopped

o      3 Slices Fresh Ginger

o      1 Lime and Lime Leaf

o      Protein of your choice, shown here chicken thigh meat, cubed

o      Store Bought Frozen Puff Pastry Sheet

o      Cooking Oil

o      Michiu (cooking rice wine)*

o      Salt & Pepper

* Available in most Asian grocery stores or in the ethnic/Asian aisle at a local supermarket

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Marinate cubed protein with salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of Michiu.
• Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the squash or pumpkin for about 5 minutes.  Use a chopstick or toothpick to stick through a piece, if it goes through then it's done.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a pan and cook the protein of your choice. Chicken or pork: brown over medium high heat. Shrimp: sauté until slightly pink over medium heat. Beef: sear over high heat.  Remove from pan and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in an oven safe saucepot and sauté the onion, ginger, and peppers until fragrant (a few min).  Add the mushrooms and sauté until slightly brown.  Then push everything to the edge of the pot making space in the middle, add a little bit more oil if necessary and add the curry paste with a few tablespoons of the coconut milk and mix while heating through.  Add the rest of the coconut milk and lime leaf, mix everything in the pan together and bring to a simmer, reduce to low heat.  Salt and pepper to taste

• Take the puff pastry out of the freezer and let it defrost for about 10-15 min while the curry simmers.  Meanwhile prepare a egg wash by beating an egg in a bowl.
• Add the protein and squash/pumpkin to the curry mixture, turn off the heat and quickly place the puff pastry sheet over the top of the pot like a lid and brush quickly with egg wash then place in oven for about 10 – 15 minutes or when the puff pastry puffs up and browns.  Remove from oven and serve with rice if desired.  When you break through the crust, squeeze some lime in the curry to add a hint of sour and brighten up the dish.

Tip: You can also serve as individual portions by pouring the curry into individual ramekins or oven safe bowls and cutting the puff pastry into circles that fit over each ramekin. Then continue with egg wash and put in oven.

Very simple, very delicious! – Pot roasted, buttery, garlicy and peppery crab

Yes. I love crab. I grew up on an island with abundant seafood, and I learned how to steam a crab at age 10. It’s not hard at all and it tastes much better than the boiled and chilled ones they sell at touristy restaurants. Buy a live crab and follow this recipe, I bet you’ll love it!

Ingredients: 1 live Dungeness (the bigger the better), 3 slices of ginger, 1 stalk of green onion, ½ tablespoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, ½ teaspoon of white pepper powder, 1 cup of ice cream salt

Methods: Use an old tooth brush to clean the crab. (grab the crab from the bottom to avoid claw attack! You can use a tong too.) Boil 2 cups of water in a big pot. Place green onion and ginger slices on your steam basket and put the crab in, stomach facing up. Put the steam basket in the boiling pot and steam for 10 minutes over high heat. Remove the crab from steam basket and place it on a plate. Cut butter from a cold stick and use a fork to cover the crab evenly. Mix salt, garlic powder and white pepper powder and sprinkle evenly on the crab. Put ice cream salt in the big pot (that fits the crab) and stir till very hot, about 2 minutes. Place the crab on top of the heated salt and put the lid on, do not add water at this step. Pot roast for another 10 minutes over low to medium heat.

Once you try it this way you’ll never want to go back to the “boiled and chilled” version. The shell is covered with yummy seasoning and the meat is intensely sweet by roasting on ice cream salt. You’ll get the butter + crab flavor combo without dipping the lean crab meat in artery clogging butter. More flavor, less guilt!

P.S. If you prefer steamed crab, just follow half of the recipe.

Here's a little "How to eat crab" tutorial =)

Mushroom Squash Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite comfort foods, and this particular risotto is inspired by Autumn.  The rich, creamy, warm texture and use of sweet squash and sage makes me glad, heck almost giddy that the leaves are turning and motivates me to bring out my sweaters and boots.

Risotto can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never made it before, but it’s really quite simple.  Essentially its small grains of rice that you cook over the stovetop, the only difficult aspect is the attention it needs.  This is not a dish to be left unattended, you have to nurse it and stir in constantly, preferably with love. <3

Cook Time: 45 min              Yields: 4-6 Servings

o      1 ½ cups              Arborio Rice

o      2 cups                  Any Winter Squash peeled & cubed into bite size pieces

o      2 cups                  Mushrooms sliced, any variety will do

o      ¼ cup                   finely minced Shallot

o      2 teaspoons         fresh Thyme leaves

o      2 teaspoons         fresh Sage leaves chiffonade

o      6 cups                  Low-Sodium Chicken Stock/Broth (preferably homemade)

o      2 tablespoons     Unsalted Butter

o      2 tablespoons     Olive Oil

o      ½ cup grated       Pecorino Cheese

o      ½ cup                  dry white wine

o      Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, heat up the chicken broth over medium-high.  Meanwhile, peel, scrap out the seeds, and chop the squash into bite size pieces. When the broth comes to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the squash.  Let the squash cook for about 5 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon or spider and put aside.  Turn the heat off and cover the saucepan to keep the broth warm.
2. In another large saucepan, melt 1 ½ tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add the minced shallot.  Pinch of salt to help the shallots soften and sweat.  Add the mushroom, thyme, and sage to the pan and let the mushrooms cook until they brown, about 7 – 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (Initially moisture will come out of the mushrooms, let it cook off and evaporate, then the mushrooms will start to brown)
3. Add the Abrorio rice to the mushroom mixture and mix so that the butter and olive oil coat the rice.  Pour in the wine and simmer for a couple minutes for the alcohol to cook off.  Add one ladle full of the broth and stir until the rice absorbs it.  Repeat until the rice is tender, with a slight bite in the middle.  Stir in the squash, remaining ½ tablespoon of butter, grated Pecorino cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. The overall consistency should be rich and creamy, but there is subjective personal preference.  If you want it to be looser, add a little more broth.  Serve immediately topped with a couple sprigs of thyme and sage.

I served it here with a roasted rack of lamb…I feel comforted already.

Autumn Splurge – fresh crab meat omelet rice with white beech mushroom and iceberg cabbage

One of my favorite breakfast places of all time is Katy’s in Carmel-by-the-sea. I love their San Francisco omelet with super fresh Dungeness crab meat and avocado inside. Mmmm….. I’m a big time seafood eater and never shy away from seafood dishes any time of the day.

I scanned our fridge and found some leftover rice and iceberg lettuce and some leftover fresh crab meat from dinner last night. (I made a garlicy butter-pepper “wok roasted” crab but forgot to take picture before we killed it, next time!) To balance off that all ingredient is “leftover”, I opened a new pack of white beech mushroom and used 1/3 of it in this dish.

It has been gloomy and rainy in Venice. I’m conditioned to see bright sunny days in SoCal. After all, weather is the value proposition of Los Angeles (for me). So in a dark and wet morning like this a hearty and luxurious breakfast becomes a perfect fix!

One quick note here: crab is a very seasonal ingredient. Chinese people say “round tips for September; pointed tips for October.” The “tips” here means the shape of the tummy line of the crab. The more rounded ones are females, and the pointed refer to the male crabs. Female crabs best be tasted in September and male crab in October, both in lunar calendar. In American only the male Dungeness are harvested. When in season, the crab meat tastes firmer and sweeter. Even the fat in the shell taste more flavorful and less fishy. The crab meat I used here for this recipe is from the body (we ate all the legs!), and after I picked out the meat I mixed it with the fat in the shell to get a super rich crab flavor. When in season the crab fat tastes a lot better than other times. I also only buy live crabs; not only do they taste better, but they are also safer since bacteria starts developing rapidly once they die. I got mine from 99 Ranch for $5.99/lb.

Here are the ingredients for filling. Half serving of mixed grain brown rice, 1/3 pack of white beech mushroom, iceberg strips.

Heat up oil in a pan and start stir frying beech mushroom over medium heat. Remember to always start with ingredients that take longer to cook. In this case rice and crab meat were cooked, only need to be heated up. Iceberg should go in last to keep its crunch.

Add in rice and 1 tea spoon of salt and stir evenly.

Add crab meat and the juice from shell to pan and mix

Lastly add in iceberg and stir fry till it releases moisture and softens. Then put everything in a bowl. Heat 2 spoons of oil in the pan and pour in 2 beat eggs.

When eggs are half solidified, put the fillings on one side and cover with the other side. Cook for another 30 second and ready to plate.

This is the best of two worlds! Hearty but light; rich in flavor but still fresh. It’s got balanced nutrients from whole grains, veggies, eggs and crab meat.

My husband devoured the omelet rice in seconds. This is the first time I made this dish, next time I’d consider cutting the iceberg into thinner strips.